Time Lapse
by Kevin R
Summary: Modern technology and values - not to mention our beloved Daria - clash with 19th century America as Lawndale gets sucked back in time to the Reconstruction-era South. Rated M for language.
1. Another Beautiful Day

**Time Lapse**

**by Kevin R.**

Author's Note: _Daria_ is a registered trademark of MTV and Viacom. The following work is for non-commercial use only.

First fan fiction, please don't criticize, blah blah blah...

This story's premise was based loosely on the novel "1632" by Eric Flint. This story, which has been expanded into a popular series of novels written by a number of different authors, is about a small town in West Virginia that is transported back in time to Germany during the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century. My name for the event that transports Lawndale and the surrounding area back in time -- the Shard -- was also borrowed from the 1632 series (the event is referred to as an Assiti Shard by the original author).

My knowledge of _Daria_ is as follows: I've seen nearly every episode in the first three seasons (except for _Depth Takes a Holiday_ and a few others). I've been using my friendly neighborhood Gnutella application – yes, I use LimeWire – to download past episodes of _Daria_, and I'm currently working my way through seasons four and five. For the sake of convenience, and so I don't get the fans angry with any mistakes, I'm setting this fan fiction at the end of the third season. Which means no Tom. Sorry. Don't get angry.

In addition, for the purposes of this story, the Lawndale of this fan fiction is a suburb of Little Rock, Arkansas, which also gets taken back in the Shard. I must warn anybody reading this that I do not paint a very flattering picture of the South in this story. I will ignore any comments about states' rights, the evils of Abraham Lincoln, and how "the South will rise again."

On with the story, already!

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Chapter 1: Another Beautiful Day

Lawndale, Arkansas. Monday, January 24, 2000.

Six a.m.

Daria loathed to hear that alarm in the morning. It meant that, in an hour, she would have to put up with Principal Li's desire to establish a mini-dictatorship. It meant that she would have to put up with Ms. Barch's ranting about how men should be exterminated for the good of humanity. (Okay, perhaps there was something to look forward to.) It meant that she would have to put up with her "cousin" Quinn and the Fashion Gestapo for seven whole hours. It meant that she would have to put up with a whole list of things that she was too tired to think of right now.

And to top it all off, it was a Monday.

At least there was Jane. There was always Jane.

Against her better judgment, Daria climbed out of bed and prepared herself for a brand new day. She threw on her trademark uniform, took a bite to eat, and walked out the door before Mom could even bother to say goodbye.

Daria met Jane at the usual spot on the walk to school. They had the usual conversation about the trivialities of life and the world around them. They discussed the recent South Carolina primaries, the Army's sick sense of humor (how else does one explain their putting video cameras on the tips of bombs during Desert Storm?), the merits of Canadian culture and society, and Daria's Montana cabin fund. It was like every other conversation that the two girls had when they walked to school.

Neither of them could have guessed that it would be their last.

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Sandi shrieked.

The latest issue of _Waif_, to her shock, stated that a sort of neo-punk look, led by a wave of new artists and bands from the growing "emo" subculture, was on the rise, and would dominate mainstream fashion within a few years. When Sandi read this news, it took all of five minutes to ring up all of her friends and hold an emergency meeting of the Fashion Club at the beginning of school.

By 8:30, all four girls had gathered in the girls' room. Sandi was on a mad rant about how she did not want to look like Johnny Vicious, and that these events had made her question the validity of _Waif's_ fashion advice. When Stacy corrected Sandi by saying that the famous punk rocker's name was Johnny Rotten, and that less "fashionable" clothes would put less of a strain on their family's budgets, Sandi cursed her out, calling her a traitor. A high-pitched "Eep!" was Stacy's sole response. With Stacy silenced, Sandi said that they had little time to oppose this horrifying trend. If they didn't, she said, Cashman's would be replaced with Hot Topic at every mall in the country. This was enough to get Tiffany over to Sandi's side, but Quinn was still skeptical, feeling that what Stacy had said earlier had some merit to it. As usual, the Fashion Club was divided evenly, with Quinn and Stacy on one side, and Sandi and Tiffany on the other.

Sandi was right about one thing. They didn't have much time left. Nobody did.

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Mr. DeMartino's class was the same mess it had always been. Kevin and Brittany were in their corner of the room, thoughts about Lawndale's championship season still bouncing around in their otherwise empty heads. Daria and Jane were sharing their plans for world domination. And the teacher was giving a lecture to the class in the same manner that a Marine drill instructor lectures the men he's training.

Mr. DeMartino asked the class a question about the goals of the Radical Republicans following the Civil War. Kevin's hand was the first one up. His answer, as usual, was an attempt to associate such men as John C. Fremont and James Garfield with the _radical_ seventy-yard run that he had made for the Lions in the championship game. Brittany gave one of her usual cheers in response.

The teacher was barely able to hold back his disgust. He ripped straight into the football couple, telling them that, if it weren't for Ms. Li's prodding him to give them good grades due to their involvement with the athletics department, he'd have them thrown out on their asses in a nanosecond. He then asked for somebody with more than three brain cells to answer the question.

Daria raised her hand. She explained that the Radical Republicans were those members of the Republican Party who wanted the South to be harshly punished for its treason against the United States government. They pushed for protection and civil rights for freed slaves, the arrest of former Confederate leaders, and the abolition of the Ku Klux Klan. Southern whites hated the Radical Republicans, but as Daria explained, they weren't exactly in the right in this situation.

Mr. DeMartino congratulated Daria for paying attention to her studies, unlike some members of the class. He then went on to his lesson plan, which covered the Southern resistance to the civil rights legislation that the Republicans were attempting to pass.

It was at that moment that they all saw the flash.

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Several theories have been sent around about what happened. All that is known for certain is that, at precisely 11:17 AM on Monday, January 24, 2000, _something_ happened to Lawndale and the rest of the Little Rock metropolitan area. Everyone within thirty miles of downtown Little Rock reported being blinded by a stunning light and hearing a strange noise that sounded something like some sort of weird radio signal. The incident lasted for a total of 98 seconds, during which time many of the people in the area were sent into a brief madness. For some of them, this madness would be anything but brief.

When it was all over, everything seemed normal enough. Power was still on, although spotty in some parts. It was those who tried to leave and get help, however, who saw the true effects of what would come to be known as the Shard.

Outside, everything had changed.


	2. The Shard

Chapter 2: The Shard

Jake Morgendorffer was on his way to a conference in Nashville. He was planning on picking up the rights to an old friend's patent for shoes made from foam, as were other would-be businessmen headed for the same conference. That, and he planned on visiting a honky tonk lounge. He hoped that Helen wouldn't find out.

He had just pulled onto I-40 when the Shard hit. Immediately, all those thoughts of shoes, dollars and country music flew out of his head, replaced by thoughts of "RUSSIANS! TERRORISTS! THE END OF THE WORLD!" Jake stopped his car in the middle of the highway.

When it did end, Jake looked around. Surprisingly, nothing had changed. There weren't any mushroom clouds. People hadn't been taken up into heaven. Even his car was in good shape, the only damage being a broken taillight and a scratched and dented rear bumper from the jerk who had crashed into him at twenty miles per hour. His fear and anxiety slowly fading, Jake continued on his way, albeit carefully, as there were plenty more crashed cars all over the road. He figured that the rest of the Morgendorffer clan was okay, just as he was. It was probably nothing, that bright flash. Just swamp gas reflected off the planet Venus. Yeah. That had to be it.

About thirty miles out from downtown, Jake stopped. The road was _gone_. Not gone as if it had been flooded out, but literally cut off. The pavement just came to an end right there. That was not the really strange part, however. Past where the highway ended, there was a vast cotton farm. Jake could scarcely make it out, still being a bit dizzy from the Shard, but he thought he could see what looked to be...

"Slaves?"

Jake wasn't exactly correct in calling them slaves, but one would be forgiven for doing so. The ten black men standing where the highway used to be were in tattered clothing and appeared to be incredibly overworked. Standing nearby was an older, aristocratic-looking man with a wooden leg, holding a revolver in one hand and a cane in the other. All of them were just as surprised to see Jake and the other cars on the road as Jake was to see them.

Jake didn't bother to ask any questions. He immediately turned his car around to pick up the kids and tell Helen exactly what he had seen.

Daria was struggling to come to her senses after what had just happened. When she did, her first thought was seeing if Jane was alright.

"Jane, wake up!"

"Ooh, shit. Either Trent spiked my orange juice with slow-acting LSD this morning, or I've just walked into an episode of _Sick, Sad World_. Or something. Is everyone alright?" Jane had clearly been sent for a loop by the Shard.

"That's a question I never thought I'd hear out of your mouth, but yes, everyone is okay. That is, unless you don't count Mr. DeMartino. Just listen to him."

Under the teacher's desk, everybody in class could hear Mr. DeMartino ranting on to himself on how the Commies were finally getting their revenge on America for winning the Cold War. No wait, it was those damn Arabs. We should've paid more attention to them after the Iranian embassy incident. Or was this the Rapture? Mr. DeMartino's speech became less coherent with every second that passed.

"Don't worry about him. He'll come to. Besides, everything is probably fine." Jane picked herself up off the floor and started checking if everybody else was alright. It went against everything she believed in, but hey – it was an emergency situation. For all she knew, this_was_ the apocalypse. "Nope. Looks like everyone's still here. Nobody's been zapped up to meet the baby Jeebus yet."

"Hey Daria." Jodie called over for help. "Could you help me find my cell phone? I must've dropped it when...whatever that was happened." Daria looked down at her feet and saw it. "Is this it?" Jodie replied with an affirmative. Daria, however, needed to find out if Quinn and her parents were alright. She had never owned a cell phone, but they did. She asked Jodie if she could call her family. Although Jodie needed to call her parents, she was willing to wait.

One ring. Then two. Then three. Finally, Quinn picked up. Daria could hear Jodie breathe a sigh of relief that the cell phone network was still up.

"Hell-oo? Why is a _brain_ like Jodie calling me?"

"This is Daria speaking. You know, your **sister.**" Daria knew that Sandi, Stacy and Tiffany were probably near Quinn.

"Daria, don't say that so loud! Anyway, why are you calling me?"

"Just checking to see if you're alright. Judging by the sound of things, you probably are. Where are you?"

"I'm in Ms. Barch's class. There was just this weird buzzing with a flash of light a few minutes ago. Did you see it?"

"If I didn't see it, I wouldn't be calling you to ask you if you're alright. And I certainly wouldn't be using someone else's phone. So yes, I did see it. Thanks for letting me know that you're not dead. Bye."

Daria then proceeded to call her father. He was probably on the road to Nashville by now, so he could tell her whether this had happened out in the sticks.

Two rings. "Jake Morgendorffer here, who is this?" There was a sense of urgency in the man's voice.

"Dad? It's me, Daria. I just need to know if you're alright. Where are you?"

"I'm coming to school to pick you up, sweetie. Listen, if you see anybody who looks, erm...out of place, I want you to run, okay? I'll tell you everything when I get there. Alright?"

Daria was confused. She had seen Dad panic before, but never like this. "Dad, what's going on? Where's Mom?"

"I called Mom, she was at the office. She's heading home right now. Listen, I'll be there in a few minutes. Just wait for me, okay? Bye."

"What the fuck was that all about?" Daria handed the phone back to Jodie while she thought about what her father had just said. Anybody who looks out of place?

A few minutes later, Jodie spoke up. "Daria, your father said he was coming to pick you up, right?"

"How did you know what he said to me? Oh, don't tell me that flash gave everyone super powers."

"Um, Daria, you're not the only one who heard your Dad yelling into that phone. Half the class heard it. And I was just wondering if I could come home with you. My parents got into a pretty nasty car crash, and an ambulance is on its way to take them to a hospital. Can I stay at your place?"

"Sure. I'll ask Jane if she wants to come over as well. Doesn't look like school is gonna be in session for quite some time."

Jake, Daria, Jane and Jodie rode back to the Morgendorffer house. Quinn said that Sandi's mom was coming to pick her up with the rest of the Fashion Club, so she stayed behind. Jake was explaining to the girls exactly what he had seen. None of them could believe a word that was coming out of his mouth. A 19th century cotton plantation? No way. Then again, stranger things had happened. Like that incident behind the Good Time Chinese restaurant.

When they got home, they all raced into the living room and turned on the TV. What they saw shocked even Jake, who had seen it firsthand. Jodie almost fainted.

"This is Channel 7 News, bringing you live coverage of the aftermath of the recent...whatever the hell that was. Our Air7 chopper is currently looking out over what must be the most bizarre sight that any of us have ever seen. Scott, can you tell us what is happening?"

"Yes, I'm currently out over Pine Bluff, and what I see is...I can't even begin to describe it. Just look at it."

Daria's first thought upon looking at the TV set was a sense of awe, soon followed by shock. Jane was right: they had stepped into an episode of _Sick, Sad World_. Or more specifically, _Gone With the Wind_. South of Pine Bluff, all traces of modern civilization were gone. In its place was a sea of farmland. Dotting the land, Daria could make out a number of grand estates, all of which looked as if they had been built no later than the 19th century.

But that was not the most eerie part. Out in the fields working were black men wearing shabby clothing, being ordered around by rich white guys, just as Jake had described in the car. Daria had seen enough in her history book to know exactly what was going on down there.

Lawndale had literally stepped into the past.


End file.
